The Problem of the Day

Volume X - Sufi Mysticism

Sufi Mysticism

Action

Very often, a man is apt to think that it is study, meditation
and prayer, alone, that can bring him to the way leading
to the goal. However, it must be understood that action
also plays an important part. Few indeed know what effect
every action has upon one's life, what power a right action
can give and what effect a wrong action can have. Man is
only on the lookout for what others think of his actions,
instead of being concerned with what God thinks of them.
If man knew what effect an action produces upon himself,
he would understand that although a murderer may escape
the hands of the policeman, he has not escaped from the
fault he has committed, for he cannot escape himself. The
greatest judge is sitting in his own heart. He cannot hide
his acts from himself. No doubt it is difficult, almost
impossible, for a man to judge the acts of other people,
for he does not know what their conditions are. Man can
best judge himself. However wicked he may be, he will not
be really pleased with his wrong actions; or, if he is pleased
for a moment, this pleasure will not last.

But what is right and what is wrong? No one can stamp
a deed as right or as wrong; but there is a natural sense
in man that distinguishes between right and wrong, just
or unjust, a sense which is to be found even in a child.
The child also sees the line and color in art or decoration,
it notices when the tablecloth is not laid out straight
on the table, when a line that should be straight is not
straight. Even a child knows when things should be harmonious,
and a child normally loves harmony. There is a natural tendency
in the heart of man, the same natural instinct that masons
use when building a house.

Different religions have taught different morals, which
were right for the people at that time. No doubt the law
of the masses must be respected; but the real conception
of right and wrong lies in one's deepest self. The soul
is not pleased with that which is not right. The soul's
satisfaction lies always in something that gives it complete
happiness. The whole of Sufism is based on the practice
not only of thought, but of action, as all religions have
been based not only on truth, but on action. Things both
material and spiritual have been accomplished by action.
To the mystic, therefore, action is most important.

During my travels from place to place, when I have come
in contact with different people and have had the opportunity
of staying with them, I have met some who had perhaps never
in their lives read a book on theology or studied mysticism,
their whole lives having been spent in work, business and
industry. Yet I felt a spiritual advancement made naturally
by their right actions in life. They had come to a state
of purity which perhaps someone else might find by means
of study or meditation.

One might ask, what is the best path to take in everyday
life to lead one to life's ideal? The best way is to consider
harmony as the first principle to be observed. In all circumstances,
situations and conditions, one should try to harmonize with
one's fellow creatures. It is easy to say, but most difficult
to live. It is not always easy to harmonize. But if we question
ourselves as to why it is so difficult, the answer is that
it is not always that other people are difficult and not
pliable; it is we ourselves who cannot bend. The palm tree
that grows straight up cannot harmonize with other trees
whose trunks are not so straight and strong.

There are many good people, but they are not always harmonious.
There are many true people, but their truth is not always
comforting. They may utter a truth which is like a slap
in the face to someone. They are just like the palm tree,
straight and righteous, yet at the same time, not in harmony.
A harmonious person can bend, is pliable, and he can meet
others. There is no doubt that in order to harmonize one
has to make sacrifices, one has to bend to people one does
not want to bend to. One has to be more pliable than one
is by nature. One has to be more clever than one really
is. And all these attempts will not succeed unless one makes
a great effort, unless one realizes that harmony is the
most essential thing in life.

Why does a mystic attribute such great importance to
harmony? Because to a mystic, his whole life is one continuous
symphony, a playing of music, with each soul contributing
his particular part to the symphony. A person's success
therefore depends upon the idea he has of harmony. Very
few people in the world pay attention to harmony. They do
not know that without it, there is no chance of happiness.
It is only the harmonious ones who can make others happy
and partake of that happiness themselves; and apart from
them, it is hard to find happiness in the world.

The fighter has no peace, as his battles will be ever
increasing. It is the peacemaker who is blessed. No doubt
in order to make peace he will have to fight with himself;
and in that way, he will be able to make peace with others.
Whatever a person's education or position in life, he may
possess all he wants, but if that one thing is lacking in
his life and heart, then nothing can bring him peace.

Therefore, if a man does not show through his actions
some of the characteristics of a human being, characteristics
that are not to be found in animals, then he has not awakened
to human nature. There are certain actions such as eating,
drinking, sitting and walking, that are not different from
those of the animals. Yet, these very same actions can become
especially characteristic of human nature when they have
a guiding light behind them.

For instance, when a man thinks he must not return a
push when he is pushed by somebody while walking and instead
says, 'I am sorry,' he shows a tendency which is different
from that of an animal, for animals will fight one another
and will lower their horns instead of bowing to one another,
while their greeting will be a howl. Man can be different.

The special characteristics of man are consideration,
refinement, patience and thoughtfulness. And when once he
has practiced these, it leads to another action: to the
practice of self-sacrifice which in turn leads to a divine
action. When man sacrifices his time and his advantages
in life for the sake of another whom he loves, respects
or admires, then this sacrifice raises him higher than the
ordinary standard of human beings. His is then a divine
nature, not human anymore. Then a human being begins to
think as God thinks, and his actions become more and more
divine. They become the actions of God, and that makes him
greater than the person who merely believes in God.

The awakened soul sees all of the doings of grown-up
people as the doings of the children of one father. He looks
upon them as the Father would look upon all human beings
on the earth, without thinking that they are German or English
or French. They are all equally dear to him. He looks upon
all full of forgiveness, not only upon those who deserve
it, but also upon the others, for he understands the reason
behind it all. By seeing good in everybody and in everything,
he begins to develop that divine light that expands itself,
illuminating the greater part of life and revealing it as
a scene of divine sublimity.

The mystic develops a wider outlook on life, and this
wider outlook changes his actions. He develops a point of
view that may be called a divine point of view. Then he
rises to the state in which he feels that all that is done
to him comes from God, and when he himself does right or
wrong, he feels that he does right or wrong to God. To arrive
at such a stage is true religion. There can be no better
religion than this, the true religion of God on earth. This
is the point of view that makes a person God-like and divine.
He is resigned when badly treated, but for his own shortcomings,
he will take himself to task, for all his actions are directed
towards God.

The conception that the mystic has of the Deity is not
only that of a King or a Judge or a Creator; the mystical
conception of God is that of the Beloved, the only Beloved
there is. To Him all the love of this world is like that
of little girls playing with their dolls, loving them. In
that way, they learn the lessons they have to practice later
in life when taking care of the home. The mystic learns
the same lessons by proving to be sincere and devoted to
all kinds of creatures. This he must do in order to awaken
himself to the Beloved, the only Beloved there is, to whom
all love is due.